A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War

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Willa Seidenberg | Bill Short

13 episodes

2 days ago

For Black soldiers, the Vietnam War was not only a struggle to stay alive, but a battle against the persistent racism in the U.S. military. In this episode, we examine the resistance efforts by Black soldiers who were literally fighting two wars – one against Vietnam and the other against their own country. Four Black GIs tell their stories of fighting back and how PTSD affected the rest of their lives. Historian Sam Black gives context on how an integrated military and colonialism intersecte...

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Episodes (13/13)

A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War

Fighting Two Wars

1 month ago

47 minutes

A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War

BONUS EPISODE: First person with Alan Klein

As part of A Matter of Conscience, we bring you bonus episodes featuring the first-person stories of the veterans we interviewed some 35 years ago. We begin with Air Force veteran Alan Klein, who was sent to the brig for going AWOL (Absent Without Leave) in protest of the war. Alan's story of foot-dragging within the military speaks to some of the more pervasive resistance that took place during the Vietnam War. Note: this episode contains profanity.

1 month ago

17 minutes

A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War

Join the GI Movement

Demonstrations, labor organizing within the military, and a Hollywood show for GI resisters. Part two of our look at the GI anti-war movement. You may want to hear episode 5 first, to learn about GI newspapers and coffeehouses. In this episode, we dive into the stories of Susan Schnall, a Navy nurse who came up with an innovative way to get the word about a big anti-war march. We’ll also hear how Army soldier Andy Stapp took unionizing efforts to the military; and Jane Fonda headlines a show ...

4 months ago

42 minutes

A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War

We Shall Overcome: The Presidio Mutiny

On October 14, 1968, at San Francisco’s Presidio Stockade, 27 anti-war GIs staged a bold act of civil disobedience. Protesting brutal prison conditions and the moral wrong of the Vietnam War, they sat down on the stockade lawn, locked arms, and sang “We Shall Overcome.” For this nonviolent protest, the Army charged them with mutiny—a crime punishable by death—and sentenced them to more than a dozen years in prison. In this episode, we hear from members of the Presidio 27, their lawyer, and fe...

5 months ago

41 minutes

A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War

BONUS EPISODE: Free Speech Today

Free speech is under attack in the United States today, just as it was during the Vietnam War. As a companion to Episode 5, which looked at GI newspapers and coffeehouses of the Vietnam-era, we are delving into the ways that free speech is being stifled in the era of campus protests over the war in Gaza. We interviewed former UT Dallas newspaper editor-in-chief Gregorio Olivares Gutierrez about how the school shut down his university paper after it reported on a police sweep of student ...

5 months ago

47 minutes

A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War

Nine for Peace

In this episode of A Matter of Conscience, you’ll hear how churches and chains made an anti-war splash in 1968. Nine young men announced their resignation from the military by chaining themselves to church clergy during a 48-hour service to protest the Vietnam War. In their words: "They could not be a part of or support the oppressive and dehumanizing activities of the American military machine." We'll hear from two of the Nine for Peace participants: Keith Mather and Oliver Hirsch.&nb...

5 months ago

30 minutes

A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War

Misunderstandings, Lies and Whiskey

If you don’t know much about the U.S. war in Vietnam, we’ve got you covered! This episode delves into Vietnam’s struggle for independence and the political influence of figures like President Lyndon Johnson to decipher exactly how we got into the Vietnam War. Through personal accounts from Vietnamese citizens and U.S. veterans, you’ll learn about how the war was waged.

5 months ago

44 minutes

A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War

By and For GIs

What do newspapers and coffeehouses have to do with the Vietnam War? It turns out they were critical tools in the GI anti-war movement. You’ll hear the stories of GIs who got around military restrictions to publish 300 anti-war newspapers, often having to distribute them covertly. The episode also highlights the role of GI coffee houses as safe havens and organizing centers for soldiers. GIs, and their civilian supporters faced intimidation, legal challenges, and violence from military and lo...

6 months ago

41 minutes

A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War

I Quit!

The Green Berets, the special forces branch of the U.S. Army, figures into the stories of two early and well-known GI resisters: Dr. Howard Levy and Donald Duncan. Both men made strong public stands against the war, and both worked tirelessly for the GI anti-war movement after they were discharged from the Army. We’ll hear how Duncan gave up a promising lifelong military career because of the tactics used by the United States in the Vietnam War. And, Dr. Levy recounts his jo...

6 months ago

42 minutes

A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War

BONUS EPISODE: Extended Interview with Historian Chris Appy

Episode 3 gives listeners a brief overview of the history of the war in Vietnam. If you want to get more detailed information, listen to this extended interview with Chris Appy, a professor of history at the University of Massachusetts, and director of the Daniel Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Democracy. Chris gives his thoughts on the history of Vietnam's occupation by foreign powers, the re-education camps run by the communist government after 1975, and the more details on the stud...

7 months ago

1 hour 17 minutes

A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War

It Was All A Lie

This episode explores how men of the Vietnam generation were primed for war based on the experiences of their fathers and uncles in World War II, and how that patriotism turned to disillusionment when soldiers were confronted with the realities of Vietnam. Hosts Bill Short and Willa Seidenberg take listeners on a tour through Bill’s red bag of personal war mementos and introduce us to Marine veterans Paul Atwood and Steve Spund. They were two working-class kids who acted on instinct dur...

7 months ago

43 minutes

A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War

The War Against the War

A Matter of Conscience uncovers a story of the Vietnam War the U.S. government and the military would like to bury. Hosts Bill Short and Willa Seidenberg draw from firsthand experience to reveal a hidden chapter of the war—one shaped by resistance from within. In this opening episode, we set the stage for the rise of the GI anti-war movement, spotlighting acts of courage and defiance by soldiers who faced internal conflicts between their duty and their conscience. Historian Chris Appy unpacks...

8 months ago

33 minutes

A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War

A Matter of Conscience Trailer

Coming at the end of April 2025! A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War. Listen to our trailer!

9 months ago

2 minutes